Sorry - need to talk about sick chickens

[Gorsty]

Hi folks

My young cockerel, Little Joe, has had very runny poops for several days now and yesterday think I heard a sneeze. He is bright in himself - eating well & running/scratting around as normal but ...... is there anything I can try?

He lives with my 3 girls, Alice, Martha & Sarah - their pen is moved to fresh ground every day and I did wonder whether its too much clover causing the problem but the other three poops seems OK. They get pellets every morning and a mash with Poultry Spice late afternoon.

They were all wormed about a month ago - should I do it again?

Any ideas?

[Bramble-Poultry]

i wouldnt worm again - incase it aggitates the gut lining doing it this soon on. Did i read you right that they have access to a lot of clover? Clover can be a bit rich in large quantities.

too much of a good thing can lead to upset stomachs. If they are moved every day to new "pasture" then he might have a "jippy tunny" i would leave him on the same patch for a day or two longer - shouldnt knacker the grass too much, to see if the reduction in clover helps "dry him up" if not, what colour are the runny poos? are they the usual slightly greeny and white ones, just sloppy or are they bright yellow?

[Gorsty]

Hi Bramble

Yes my so called lawn is rich in clover - great for bees but a bit rich for cluckies.

The poops are brown (NOT yellow) but are very runny - have been moving the run so they have just 12" or so of fresh "grass" each day but have gone back to moving it totally as don't like the idea of them all treading in the poops.

What do you think?

Is there anything I can give to help dry him up? I used to breed rabbits years ago (for showing not eating) & if anyone got the runs used to give them comfrey leaves or blackberry leaves or burned toast as they are astringent. Would these help do you think?

Many thanks

[frias]

I'm glad this subject has come up as one of my girls has really runny poos today. However they were moved to fresh lawn yesterday and although my DH mowed the lawn first there is a lot of clover. Never had this problem with clover before but of course we could use weedkiller before we got chooks.

[Bramble-Poultry]

hard to say if toast will help ours get burnt toast anyways as its a little habbit of mine to put the toast on and wander off and chase the kids in circles trying to get them ready for school!!!

Comfry, Blackberry and toast etc will only aleviate the symptoms not solve the root cause, if the cause is the clover then it will just re occur. Try not to move them everyday, there should be no problem in leaving them in 1 place for 3 days, if you notice them starting to affect your lawn then you will have to move them. If there is lots of runny poo in the run you do not want them to walk in then hose it out!

If you wanted to know for sure if it is actually the grass causing the problem then remove them from the grass, place them on hardstanding with a straw lined run for a week, removing the straw every couple of days and composting in (this makes a great base for a mushroom table!) Do not feed them anything other than their pellets/corn for this week to allow the tummy to settle. If it clears up put them back on the grass but keep the rest of the diet restricted to pellets/corn then if it reoccurs you kow it was definatley the grass/clover, if it doesn't reoccur then start reintorducing their other treats 1 at a time (1 every 3 days) until you find your culprit - a pretty standard technique for finding food allergies in any animal (including us) and yes chickens get food allergies.

If he doesn't improve from being removed from the grass etc or he gets worse - then trip to the vets for antibiotics incase he picked up something!

[Nicos]

My chooks graze on grass containing about 60/40 grass to clover.
Yes they do have brown sloppy poo from time to time, but basically they've grazed the same area since November and are fine with sloppy poo.
They do get layers pellets and a few lettuce leaves/corn/raisins etc..but I've no reason to worry about their poo- we're getting 4-5 eggs from 5 gals and even the 8 babies - now 8 weeks old- are fine.
We cut the 'grass' every 2 weeks so there's quite a lot of clover- and flowers- by the end of the 2nd week.

[Bramble-Poultry]

some chickens are mor susseptible than others, rather like humans!

By the way I hate you all - I want clover, tried sowing it etc and it doesn't come - please send me some clover - our bees love it! Saying that they also love the wildflower area I sowed. but apparently clover honey is nice!

[Nicos]

I'm more than happy to send you a whole pile of clover seeds!! Pm me!

[Gorsty]

Should I be more worried now?

Just been out to check on them - the poo has changed colour a bit - could be a tinged yellow or am I just becoming paranoid I ask myself?!!

What does yellow poop indicate?

Anyhow, many thanks for the advice Bramble - maybe an idea to take them off the grass altogether.

You are most welcome to some plugs of clover out of my lawn - where do you live in Staffordshire - can't be that far away from me, me thinks - I live near Audley.

Thanks again

[Bramble-Poultry]

Gnosall is the nearest town Gorsty!

Just take them off the grass, give them some toast (and comfry if they will take it) to calm down the symptoms and keep an eye on him, restrict their diet for a few days too, he may just have eaten something that upset his tummy, it could even have been something silly like a caterpillar (some are toxic to birds but they do insist on eating them) of some scraps that were a little on the turn!

Don't worry about it unless it doesn't clear up or you notice a distinct difference in his behavouir (ie listless, not eating) if he goes like this then contact the vet.

[Gorsty]

Hi Bramble

Thanks for your advice - I will keep an eye on Little Joe and do as you suggest - hopefully it's nothing nasty. Would hate anything to happen to him as he's absolutely beautiful and quite a character.

Have looked Gnosall up on the map - you're about 20 miles away thats all

Anyhow, thanks again

Bye for now